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Letters to the editor

War isn’t the solution we need

Linda Westrick Boalsburg Americans are facing many serious problems: — An affordability crisis: High prices for food, housing, and utilities — A health care crisis: Unaffordable insurance and rural hospital closures — A weakened safety net: Millions cut from SNAP and Medicaid — Rising inequality — Tariffs that function as taxes, paid by small businesses and consumers — Unreleased Epstein files and continued lack of accountability for child sex predators — Overly aggressive immigration enforcement that ensnares citizens and legal immigrants — Detention ...

Stop hiding voter data

Caroline Machiraju Camp Hill Pa.’s Secretary of State Al Schmidt refuses to give its voter export to the Department of Justice, which wants to validate that only citizens are voting, by cross-checking social security numbers. Why? That’s a question that Rep. Brad Roae asked Schmidt during the budget hearings. Schmidt gave a nonsensical reply, stating DOS wants to “protect” personal information. Roae aptly responded “With all due respect, Mr. Secretary, the federal government already has everybody’s social security numbers — they’re the ones that give them out.” It ...

Upgrade our air defense systems

Donald Moskowitz Londonderry Iran retaliated against our recent air strikes by launching missiles and drones against our military bases in the Middle East. They hit on and near our U.S. Navy base in Bahrain, which is the headquarters for our Fifth Fleet. Iran also hit a U.S. base in Kuwait with drones that killed six and wounded a number of our military members. The dozen destroyers prepositioned in the region were able to shoot down some of the missiles and drones. Looking to the future, U.S. Navy warships are typically scattered over the world’s oceans. They would not be ...

There are no real Republicans left in America today

Kimball Shinkoskey Woods Cross In the past, Republicans took not only a principled stance but a responsible stance on the federal budget. For example, the Constitution says that human services programs must be largely decided and funded on the state level. So, when even the worst of Republican presidents like Richard Nixon decided to end federal efforts in some of these areas, his party shifted certain health, education, and welfare funding back to the states in the form of “block grants.” That way, the states could decide similar local programming there more flexibly on ...

Voter fraud without perpetrators

Tim Mannello Williamsport Republican lawmakers say voters should show photo ID because, they claim, voter impersonation is rampant. But every credible study—including those commissioned by Republicans themselves—shows the opposite: voter impersonation is virtually nonexistent. When confronted with the evidence, they simply repeat the claim anyway. The only thing that’s widespread is the myth. kept alive not by facts, but by constant repetition. That misconception didn’t appear out of nowhere. It persists largely because Republican leaders keep repeating the claim until, to ...

Fundraising on war and national security secrets

Diane Ebken Port Matilda President Trump’s foray into Iran has generated mixed reactions. The majority of Americans oppose the war, but voters are divided along party lines: Republicans are more likely to support the war, whereas Democrats and independents are more likely to oppose it. But even those who accept the President’s actions have to recoil at the way he is trying to profit from the war. He’s now raising money from the casualties of the war he started — and selling our national security. A fundraising email from a Trump-linked political action committee used ...